Trinidad and Tobago pulls out of Miss Universe 2015 pageant

Trinidad and Tobago has announced that the country will not be sending a representative to the 2015 staging of the Miss Universe pageant.

In a statement released online, the franchise holder in Trinidad & Tobago, Tribe, stated that the decision to stay out of the pageant is partly due to offensive statements made earlier this year by former Miss Universe owner Donald Trump as well as other local factors.

“Following the public utterances by the former owner of Miss Universe Donald Trump (that many viewed as insensitive and very offensive to the Mexican and Latin community) there were calls from several quarters for Trinidad and Tobago to not participate in the next edition of the competition,” the statement said.

The statement has negatively affected the Miss Universe pageant. Many major sponsors like NBC Television (usual broadcasters) have withdrawn their support as 3 Latin American countries, Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama have withdrawn from this year’s pageant.

The Trinidad and Tobago Miss Universe franchise holder also said the country’s general election held in September hampered their efforts to choose a candidate for the pageant.

However, they have also stated that Trump’s comments scared sponsors away, noting that the franchise saw “several of their sponsors preferring to defer commitment until that situation was resolved…”

The statement also said though Donald Trump severed ties with the Miss Universe pageant in September, it was already late to start their local campaign to choose a Miss Trinidad Universe 2015.

The date for Miss Universe 2015 is set for December 20. However, a new city to host the pageant has not been decided as Bogota in Colombia has withdrawn its aspirations to be the host city of the next pageant.